Jacob Rieker
· Assistant Research Professor of Applied LinguisticsVerifiedPennsylvania State University · Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL)
Active 2020–2026
About
Jacob Rieker is an Assistant Research Professor of Applied Linguistics at The Pennsylvania State University. He is a researcher and language teacher educator specializing in English for Specific Purposes and English as a Medium of Instruction. His teaching experience includes English for English-Medium Instruction Faculty, International Teaching Assistants, Hospitality English, and English for Academic Purposes, as well as graduate courses in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teacher Education. Rieker’s work emphasizes the development and implementation of responsive, context-sensitive pedagogy. His research interests include language teacher education, second language pedagogy, and English for Specific Purposes, with a particular focus on faculty professional development in English-Medium Instruction contexts. He engages Vygotskian Sociocultural Theory in his pedagogy and publications to promote and document teacher and faculty development. His scholarly work has been published in various venues, including the Journal of English-Medium Instruction, Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, Second Language Teacher Education, and others. Rieker holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from The Pennsylvania State University, an M.A. in TESOL from the University of Central Florida, and a B.A. in Linguistics and East Asian Languages, Chinese, from the University of Florida.
Research topics
- Computer Science
- Sociology
- Pedagogy
- Psychology
- Mathematics education
- Political Science
- Aesthetics
- Social psychology
- Art
- Epistemology
- Engineering ethics
- Philosophy
- Visual arts
Selected publications
2026-01-01
articleOpen accessInnovation in Language Learning and Teaching · 2026-03-13
articleOpen accessSenior authorEnhancing engagement and performance through a Formative-Linked Exam Weighting (FLEX) assessment
Studies In Educational Evaluation · 2026-03-11
articleOpen accessConventional grading in higher education assigns fixed weights to different assessment components, remaining unchanged across time and students, and offering limited flexibility to reflect individual learning trajectories. This study introduces a gamification-inspired assessment design termed Formative-Linked Exam Weighting (FLEX), integrated with Rhythmic Engagement Pedagogy (REP), where each student’s final exam initially carries 100% of the grade and is gradually reduced according to learning-progress points accumulated from formative components, such as quizzes, group tasks, flipped sessions, and inquiry-based milestones. Implemented in an 18-week undergraduate Circuit Theory course, the approach individualized exam weights; by semester’s end, the quartiles were 18.7%, 32.5%, and 44.7%. Compared with fixed-weight formats, FLEX increased voluntary attendance, reduced withdrawals, and improved exam outcomes. Correlation analyses showed that formative engagement aligned with professional-content mastery, REP sustained participation across scales, and FLEX supported learner autonomy. Thus, the proposed assessment provides a scalable framework for enhancing engagement and learning performance. • Formative-Linked Exam Weighting (FLEX) redefines the conventional fixed-weight grading. • FLEX uses internal gamification, converting formative progress into grade rewards. • Rhythmic Engagement Pedagogy (REP) structures alternating learning contrasts. • Combined DGS–REP model sustains engagement and reduces course withdrawals. • The approach enhances mastery, autonomy, and motivation in EMI STEM instruction.
Multilingual Matters eBooks · 2025-06-20
book-chapter1st authorCorresponding16 Examining the Role of Language Teacher Educator Intentionality in Leveraging Novice Teacher Emotions as Sites for Professional Development: A Vygotskian Sociocultural Theoretical Perspective was published in Teacher Emotions as Personal and Professional Development in Applied Linguistics on page 280.
Modern Language Journal · 2025-11-10 · 7 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorWe appreciate the opportunity to comment on the special synergies issue on SLA/T (Atkinson et al., MLJ 2025 Supplement). Given length limitations we will restrict our commentary to what we believe to be a crucial matter evidenced by the special issue (SI), namely that it, along with other dialogues in the field (e.g., Douglas Fir Group, 2016; Hulstijn et al., 2014, 2015) are indicative of a crisis in SLA/T. This is not the same type of crisis that results in Kuhnian scientific revolutions (Kuhn, 1962). For one thing, we do not believe there is a dominant paradigm in SLA/T and, for another, Kuhn doubted that his analysis applied to the social sciences (Sturm & Mühlberger, 2013). The crisis that we perceive in SLA/T is akin to the crises that have plagued psychology virtually from its inception at the end of the 19th century. Diagnosing a crisis is an essential first step for SLA/T to move forward as a scientific discipline. Moreover, given the interrelation of SLA theory and research with language education (the T in SLA/T), responding to the crisis holds consequences for language teachers and learners. While SLA/T is traditionally considered to have originated in applied linguistics, in our opinion, it has much more in common with contemporary psychology, given its interest in process as well as its preferred research methods. As background, we will briefly explain the nature of the crisis in psychology in order to inform our contention that SLA/T is also in a state of crisis as manifested in the SI and the other SLA publications cited above. In so doing, we will focus on some, though by no means all, of the indicators of a crisis. Finally, we will suggest a possible way out of the crisis that would open the way for significant progress. According to Sturm and Mühlberger (2013) a field can be in a crisis with or without overt acknowledgement of such a state of affairs. While most crisis declarations in psychology highlight the proliferation of theories, they also point to the lack of terminological agreement as well as differences in research and analytical methods (Pléh, 1988). Indeed, Bakan (1995, p. 337) described psychology as a collection of “unrelated molecules” that has yielded interesting findings and ideas but with no coherence resulting in “negligible growth of understanding of mind.” Theory proliferation has been a concern of SLA researchers such as Long (1993), who argued for the need to formulate guidelines (see Jordan, 2004) to reduce the number of theories to a level at which the field could eventually settle into normal science activity (Kuhn, 1962). The field also lacks agreement on key terminology across its various theories, as well as a worry about how to deal with the perceived research/practice divide. We point out, following Sturm and Mühlberger (2013 ), that while a crisis seems to indicate a negative state of affairs, it also presents an opportunity for a field to develop. These authors mention, for instance, that the Chinese word for crisis (危机) consists of two characters, the first signaling danger and the second opportunity. Bühler (1927) described an early crisis as an Aufbaukrise (a construction/building crisis), implying a possibility of building something new out of the situation (Pléh, 1988). In psychology and in SLA/T a crisis is a sign that something is not functioning well, but at the same time it indeed presents an opportunity to improve the situation and move the field in a positive direction. Even though they did not overtly acknowledge a crisis, in their attempt to find common ground the contributors must have had some sense that all is not well in SLA/T. Finding common ground without addressing the differences and incommensurabilities among the various theories is an unsatisfactory way to resolve any crisis. A particularly useful approach to analyzing the crisis in psychology is provided by Yurevich (2009), which we believe also applies to SLA/T. Yurevich characterized the crisis as ruptures along three dimensions. The first, a horizontal rupture, reflects the unacceptable number of theories, schools, and trends in the field. The second, a vertical rupture, separates the cognitive/neuroscience research approaches from the humanistic approaches. The third, a diagonal rupture, segregates researchers from practitioners. We used Yurevich's analysis of the psychology ruptures to help us think about ruptures in SLA/T and how these are reflected in the SI. We believe that the ruptures in two of the three axes, horizontal and diagonal, are more clearly represented in the SI, while the vertical axis less so, with the possible exception of the contrast between Western, or more accurately, Anglo-American quantitative-based scientific research and Ortega's call for decolonialization of research practices. While many psychologists have described the crisis in their field, most have not proposed a clear way to resolve the situation. One psychologist who did offer a resolution was L. S. Vygotsky, whose extended analysis was produced in 1926, even before he developed his own psychological theory (see Vygotsky, 1997a). Although he addressed theory proliferation, lack of terminological agreement, and theory practice/segregation, Vygotsky also brought to center stage a concern reflected in the subtitle of his text, A Methodological Investigation, in which he proposed that any scientific theory must first and foremost be conceived as a methodological system. Here he is not referring to research procedures but to a theory of scientific cognition (Toomela, 2014). In other words, the cognitive orientation of researchers affects the kinds of questions they ask, theories they propose to answer their questions, and technical procedures they deploy to assess the validity of their theories. Methodological orientation mediates the relationship between high-level theoretical speculation and low-level empirical research.1 In the SI, we identify at least three different methodological orientations. One we believe reflects Dafermos's (2021, p. 357–358) description of a metaphysical “way of thinking [italics in original] that separates things from each other (…) based on the examination of things as isolated from each other” and also isolated “from interconnections with other things.” This way of thinking Toomela (2017) called logical science, which assumes that causality is a linear cause > effect relationship that privileges quantitative analysis of covariance between variables as addressed in Sasaki's contribution to the SI. Toomela (2010) noted that both Pearson (1902) and Thurstone (1935), the inventor of factor analysis, understood that quantitative analysis expresses covariation appearances and not internal mechanisms that underlies external behaviors. As an example of logical thinking in SLA research, we consider a well-known study by Ellis (2005) that attempted to distinguish between implicit and explicit knowledge among L2 learners of English. The learners completed a series of tasks designed to elicit either implicit or explicit knowledge of 17 grammatical features of English. The relevant tasks with regard to implicit knowledge were a timed grammaticality judgment, an oral narrative, and an elicited imitation task. Using factor analysis, Ellis (2005) concluded that these three tasks measured implicit knowledge. According to Paradis (2009), however, most late L2 learners rely on explicit knowledge supported by the neurological declarative memory system. With practice learners are able to access this knowledge automatically, but this, according to Paradis is not the same type of automaticity that occurs with implicit learning subserved by the procedural memory system, which is automatic and inaccessible to conscious inspection as when children acquire their L1. It is quite possible, therefore, that the observed performance of the learners classified as stemming from implicit knowledge could have resulted from accelerated access to explicit knowledge. In other words, we cannot assume an isomorphic relationship between observed performance and the psychological processes that underlies it. Indeed, beyond SLA/T and psychology, natural sciences employing this mode of thinking have found themselves in a situation of the same data set supporting multiple theoretical interpretations, a challenge referred to as the underdetermination of theory by evidence (see Stanford, 2009). A possible way of resolving such dilemmas is through identifying forms of evidence that can determine which theory provides the best explanation (see below). In the example of implicit knowledge and memory in L2, one could conduct a behavioral experiment, as Ellis did, along with an ERP component which should indicate which memory system (procedural or declarative) is subserving the responses of the learners. Opposing logical thinking is the thinking reflected in Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) discussed in Lowie's contribution in which it is assumed that complex systems “consist of an infinite number of changing components” (Atkinson et al., 2025b, p. 53), all of which make an individual's language development “unique” (p. 54). The problem we see with this perspective, which we cannot address with the detail it deserves here, is that it is unclear how one could produce knowledge with any degree of confidence given the infinity of potential connections assumed to operate in complex systems. 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(Atkinson et al., 2025b, p. or et al., p. all some of of or some other The theory would address the methodological issue of thinking about the SLA for one way other (Toomela, A theory would determine the of analysis and of for understanding these procedures do not access to A theory would also help the field determine T should be into as by et so that the is understood to research on the of on the our researchers to have not of a theory of Ellis at least for a theory it researchers a for of and and provides a for the of L2 the same he the that such a it were to of an number of such as proposed by would be and is therefore, is a and that for the of as in p. guidelines for theory As an step to a the ruptures and not the common ground by theories, need to be addressed in p. in which the differences are and et al., p. as p. the must in The issue by and p. is an attempt to open of SLA theories that of common ground as well as incommensurabilities across theories with the of an of for SLA that has the potential to move our field beyond its of The of their is that the did not of the theories brought into but were by of a which their of theories. approach to resolving theoretical differences that in with building a theory and that has been in cognitive research is et al., in research, theoretical such as the neurological that of the theories designed a series of to determine the of of the theories. The were by resulting in an that supported the validity of one of the theories. This is an approach in SLA Indeed, of theory and Theory are in the early of the possibility of in to determine the by can or cannot be through procedures based on The forward that there is indeed a crisis in SLA and that this state of presents both danger and opportunity. The danger in and the opportunity in the possibility of a more and field. It is our that this not the of in the SI, but the of analysis that can distinguish between theoretical and by methodological for and that the of the can the field move beyond its state of crisis a more scientific of and the learning and of second in and all the danger of from science to at which point what we how we how we is to a matter of
Research Methods in Applied Linguistics · 2025-04-08
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingResponding to calls to interrogate the role of temporality in applied linguistics research methods, this paper explores the utility and value of kairos as a temporal and methodological logic in qualitative inquiry. In contrast to the predominant understanding of time as chronos , the objective passage of clock time, kairos represents the qualitative experience of time by the individual as personally significant moments that constitute turning points and major transitions in development. To illustrate how kairos can be productively integrated in qualitative research, we present a case study of a research project on faculty development in the context of English as a Medium of Instruction that was designed to create change in participants’ instructional decision making and practices. The analysis illustrates how the cultivation of kairos , defined as opportune, relevant, and meaningful experiences for participants, guided the study design and implementation, and enabled faculty-participants to implement new teaching practices to the benefit of their students’ engagement and learning. We conclude by considering the temporal, methodological, and ethical implications of attending to time as kairos , and by advocating for the potential benefits of a kairic orientation to qualitative inquiry in applied linguistics.
Becoming a Vygotskian Language Teacher Educator and Researcher through Interventionist Inquiry
2025-10-14
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingThis chapter explores my development as a language teacher educator and researcher by carrying out a qualitative interventionist dissertation project. Focusing on interactions with a focal teacher-participant, Sofia, I demonstrate how, in enacting my positionality as a Vygotskian language teacher educator, I had to respond to her specific prior instructional experiences and future ESL teaching practice. This analysis calls into relief how my own development and reflexivity as an emerging language teacher educator and researcher were entangled with Sofia’s unique individual history and professional development. From this, I advocate for the value of conceptualizing our roles as language teacher educators as not only informed by theory but also as a source of research into the intentional creation of teacher development.
Channel View Publications eBooks · 2025-07-08
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingSecond Language Teacher Education · 2025-11-01
articleSenior authorWe take up the issue of what constitutes language teacher educator expertise. We propose a Vygotskian sociocultural theoretical (VSCT) informed tripartite frame of innovation, intentionality, and intervention to both document and develop expertise. The frame prompts teacher educators to design context-specific innovations that embody a clear ideal, engage in theoretically grounded reasoning for the choices they make in deliberately and ethically enacting their pedagogy, and empirically examine the consequences of their pedagogy by provoking and tracking transformations in teacher reasoning and pedagogy. We reject a static view of expertise as being a set of individual or context-specific traits, dispositions, or knowledge. Instead, our tripartite frame operationally defines expertise as the praxis-based activities of second language teacher education (SLTE) pedagogy and the transformative impact this pedagogy has on learners of language teaching. We describe two innovations that language teacher educators who engage with VSCT have conducted in different instructional contexts and with different teacher populations. We detail how these language teacher educators took up the tripartite frame as a conceptual tool to motivate the design and enactment of their interventions and provide empirical evidence of the developmental consequences for the language teacher educators and the language teachers/tutors with whom they work. We close by offering significant pedagogical and methodological implications for VSCT-informed praxis-based SLTE pedagogy. This highly theorized practical tripartite frame, we believe, creates a workable tool to imagine, think through, and enact praxis-based SLTE pedagogy while simultaneously creating opportunities for the development of language teacher educator expertise.
Redefining faculty preparedness in English-medium instruction
Journal of English-Medium Instruction · 2025-04-08
articleAbstract Responding to calls for greater attention to the structure, substance, and scope of English-medium instruction (EMI) faculty professional preparation programs and their impact on teacher instructional practices, this paper explores the design, implementation, and impact of a professional development initiative at a technical university in Taiwan. Based on needs analysis findings and grounded in Vygotskian sociocultural theory, the program was designed and implemented to support faculty development through engendering new forms of teacher reasoning and instructional action. Exemplifying this process of change, an in-depth case study of a faculty-participant’s learning shows how they developed new ways of reasoning about their instructional decisions and teaching their disciplinary content. Analysis of instructional coaching sessions, faculty-produced teaching artifacts, and classroom observations demonstrates how the faculty-participant translated individualized, concept-based instructional support into innovations in their course design and in-class engagement with students. The results foreground the value of conceptualizing EMI faculty development as an individualized, longitudinal process in which responsive instructional support is a catalyst for reasoned, pedagogically sound innovations. More generally, this study offers an alternative definition of EMI professional support that moves beyond preparedness and locates development -the process of creating qualitative change in teacher practices and reasoning-at its core.
Frequent coauthors
- 4 shared
Stella Ng
University of Toronto
- 3 shared
Brett A. Diaz
The Wilson Centre
- 2 shared
Paula R. Golombek
- 2 shared
Meredith Doran
- 2 shared
Karen E. Johnson
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